Furnace-door opener.



l. HUGHES.

FURNACE DOOR OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-4; 1914.

1,186,199. Pa-tentedJunefi, 1916.

JOSEPH HUGHES, OF MEDORA, MANITOBA, CANADA.

FURNACE-DOOR OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application filed August 4, 1914. Serial No. 855,000.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH HUGHES, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Medora, in the Province of Manitoba and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FurnaceDoor Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to furnace door openers, designed for the purpose of facilitating stoking, and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide means of simple construction which will open the furnace door when the foot of the operator is placed upon the stirrup connected to a rack bar for swinging the door, so that the stoker will have both hands free to use the shovel in throwing the coal into the furnace.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door opener which will close the same, after it has been opened by means of a rack bar having a foot pedal upon its upper end.

The above and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a furnace door and means for opening and closing the same made in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a view in elevation and partial section of the rack bar and pinion for opening and closing the door, Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view showing the means for operating the latch of the door, Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the spring for reversing the operation of the rack bar to close the door, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the casing for the rack bar and the mounting of the pinion.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a furnace for a locomotive or other boiler and 2 is the furnace door hinged at 3 in the usual or any suitable manner and provided with a pivoted latch 4 having a keeper 5 of the usual or any suitable construction.

Extending through an opening in the floor or other support 6 for the furnace 1 is a rod 7 having a foot rest 8 upon its upper end, said rod 7 forming a rack bar 9 underneath the floor, said rack bar being mounted in a guide Way 10 secured by bolts 11 underneath the door 2. of the furnace. has been thrown into the furnace and the Stoker removes his foot from the pedal 8, the door is closed by means of the spring 15 the floor. The guide way 10 is provided with spaced bearing members 12, and a pinion 13 is mounted in the bearings 12, said pinion meshing with the teeth of the rack 9. The shaft 14 upon which the pinion 13 is mounted is provided with a spring 15 connected at one end to the shaft 14 and at the opposite end to the bearing 12, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. Mounted at the opposite end of the shaft 14 is a beveled gear 16 which meshes with a similar gear 17 and a vertical shaft 18 extending through the floor 6 and provided upon its upper end with an adjustable collar 19 formed integral with a bar 20 which is connected to the door 2 by means of a suitable loop or keeper 21. The collar 19 is adjustably connected to the rod 18 by means of a binding screw 22.

A latch operating rod 23 extends through the floor 6 and the upper end is provided with an enlargement 24 normally disposed under the outer end of the latch 4. The rod 23 below the floor 6 is encircled by a spring 25, one end of which bears underneath the floor 6 and the opposite end engages a pivoted lever 26 to which the rod 23 is pivoted at 27. The lever 26 is pivoted at 28 upon a bracket 29, and the end of the lever 26 engages a notch 31 in the rack bar 9.

The operation of the invention may be briefly described as follows: The stoker with a shovel full of coal to throw into the furnace steps his foot upon the pedal 8 which depresses the rod 7 and the rack bar 9 to rotate the pinion13. The rotation of the pinion 13 actuatesthe bevel gears 16 and 17 and throws the bar 20 outward to open After the coal which returns the rack bar 9 .to its original position. When the rod 7 is depressed, the lever 26 is carried down by the notch in the rack bar, and thus the rod 23 is raised to lift the latch 4 out of the keeper 5, and this operation is simultaneous with the opening of the door or just prior thereto.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that a door opener made in accordance with this invention will economize in the use of fuel, since the door is opened but a short time and does not permit the admission of cold air, 7

and is a great labor saving device as well. 'Var10us changes may be. made in the details of construction. without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a support, a furnace, and a closure hingedly secured to the furnace, of a guide depending from said support, the lower portion of said guide being bent at right angles, a bearing secured to said angular member, a second bearing secured to said support in alinement with said first bearing, a vertical rack bar slidably mounted in said guide, a foot pedal secured on the upper ends of said rod, a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said bearings, a vertical shaft extending upward through said support, a horizontal rod adjustably mounted on said vertical shaft and having its opposite end secured to said closure, a gear wheel keyed to the lower end of said vertical shaft, a gear keyed to each end of said. horizontal shaft, one of said gears meshing with said rack bar and the other meshing with the gear on said vertical shaft whereby upon the pressing downward of said pedal the closure can be opened, and means to return said closure to its normal position.

2. The combination with a support, a furnace, and a closure hingedly secured to the furnace having apivoted latch, of a guide depending from said support, the lower portion of said guide being bent at right angles, a bearing secured to said angular memher, a second bearing secured to said support in alinement with said first bearing, a. vertical rack bar slidably mounted in said guide member, a foot pedal secured on the upper end of said rod, a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said bearings, a vertical shaft extending upward through said support, a horizontal rod adjustably mounted on said vertical shaft and having its opposite end secured to said closure, a gear wheel keyed to the end of said vertical shaft, a gear keyed to each end ofsaid horizontal shaft, one of said gears meshing with said rack bar, and the other meshing with the gear on said vertical shaft whereby upon pressing downward on said pedal the closure can be opened, a spring coiled around said horizontal shaft having one end secured to said angular portion of said guide and its opposite end secured to said horizontal shaft whereby said closure is normally held in a closed position, and means to raise said latch before the door is opened.

3. The combination with a support, a

furnace and a closure hin 'edl secured to the furnace having a pivoted latch, of a guide depending from said support, the lower portion of said guide being bent at right angles, a bearing secured to said angular member, a second bearing secured to said support in alinement with the first bearing,

' a vertical rack bar slidably mounted in said guide, a foot pedal secured to the upper end of said rod, a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing, a vertical shaft extending upward through said support, a horizontal rod adjustably mounted on said vertical shaft having its opposite end secured to said closure, a gear wheel keyed to the lower end of said vertical shaft, and a gear wheel keyed to each end of said horizontal shaft, one of said gears meshing with said rack bar, and the other meshing with said gear on the said vertical shaft, whereby upon the pressing downward of said pedal, the closure can be opened, a spring coiled around said horizontal shaft having one end secured to said angular portion of said support, its opposite end secured to said horizontal shaft whereby said closure is normally held in a closed position, a bracket depending from said support and lying parallel and adjacent to said rack bar, a lever pivotally mounted at its central portion to said bracket, a rod slidably mount ed through said support, said lever having one end pivotally connected to said sliding rod and having its opposite end adapted to engage a notch in said rack bar, the free end of said sliding rod being adapted to engage the pivoted latch of said hinged closure whereby said latch can be raised when the pedal is brought downward, and a spring coiled around said sliding rod adaptedto return said rod to its normal position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH HUGHES. Witnesses P. E. LAOEY, J. M. GEORGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. O. 

